Down The Road
by RiStark
Summary: Mugen contemplates, Jin is indecisive, and Fuu is content. Oneshot.


Samurai Champloo

Author's Note: I've been pretty inactive lately, due to the fact that muses are becoming harder and harder to come by. It's not like they're something you could just buy at the dollar store (in this economy is there even a dollar store left?) but regardless, I know that's a pretty weak excuse for my lack of updating/uploading. But it's what I'm sticking with, so ya'll can just live with it. Alright, so this thought came to me one day, on a spur of the moment thing, so if the inaccuracies and brevity of it all are blaringly obvious, it's because I just put it together rather hastily lest I lose it all. Onwards!

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-x-

(Mugen)

He was watching her again.

And it wasn't the kind of obtuse watching you could immediately call out on. Him being who he was, rogue pirate and miscreant galore, had managed to pick up a few things through trial and error. If he wanted to watch someone, it is best from behind, or from the corner of a room. To make sure you weren't found out, you had better make sure not to stare for prolonged amounts of time. Like he was now, sparingly glancing in her direction every few moments, as if to reassure his conscious that she wasn't _going_ anywhere.

Psh, like she could get away from him to begin with.

But, yeah, he was watching her. And it wasn't like fish-face wasn't watching her too. But it was more with a confused expression, as if he couldn't decipher why he _was _watching her, but he just was. It was almost as if she was an itch he couldn't scratch, it was there alright, but fish-face didn't know what the hell to do with it. Huh, that would work for him too, when he thought about it. He didn't know what to do with Fuu, bend her over his knee and spank her or fuck her for all she was worth? Well, both sounded appealing, but he wouldn't think about that. Not when she was walking like that, with her pert butt sashaying in front of him, close enough for him to get a handful if he wanted, but distant enough for him to still admire what was before him.

Jin, the bastard, was walking next to her. Mugen would have done the same, except the path they were walking on was narrow and only allowed two people to travel side-by-side. So there he was, in the back, admiring Fuu's ass and wishing an imminent death upon Jin.

"Mugen, you're awfully quiet." Fuu suddenly announced, not at all staring back at him but musing her thoughts out loud.

"I got a right to be quiet, don't I?" He snapped back, his hunger fueling his ire.

Jin sent him a reprimanding glance, but he didn't give a shit. They hadn't eaten since their last rest stop in some town that had given them cautious glances and wary looks. It was by some miracle that they had enough money on them to buy two sticks of three dumplings each. But it was pretty hard for them to pool enough money for lodgings so they ended up staying in this abandoned house at the edge of town. Thing was, no matter how much Mugen tossed and turned, he couldn't help but picture Fuu in his mind, beckoning towards him, begging for him.

This also meant he was sleep deprived.

Not good for his already distressed mind.

"Well, I suppose, but by this time in the day you'd be complaining about your hunger by now." Fuu explained, this time casting him a glance over her shoulder. And he'd be damned if he didn't think that was the hottest thing he's ever seen her do. He wouldn't admit this to anyone, least of all _her_, but her neck and shoulders were the sexiest thing he's ever laid eyes on. They weren't too skinny, but nor were they too rotund either. Ugliest thing he's ever seen was this fat whore in some brothel that had a double chin. But her shoulders, soft and supple and not at all bony and narrow, complimented her smooth neck nicely.

There was a special place in hell reserved for him, he knew it.

"Well, maybe I'm just not hungry." He bit out, because there wasn't much to refute on. He usually _was _complaining round about now about his hunger.

"That's a lie and you know it." She giggled back, and it took all his willpower not to throw her over his shoulder, take her into the forest, and have his way with her.

"We should be reaching the next town soon." Jin said monotonously. He needn't explain himself; it was more for his own peace of mind than for theirs.

"You hear that Mugen? You can actually stuff your face like you want to, once we manage to snag some money anyway." Fuu said ecstatically, clinging to the last of her energy to remain optimistic.

"Humph." Mugen grunted back, not in the mood to talk, but more in the mood to admire. Damn her ass was fine.

-x-

(Jin)

He hated being introspective, especially with Mugen around.

Because once he was thinking, it took quite some time for him to snap out of it, and by then Mugen had managed to snag himself into some kind of trouble, and would therefore bring Fuu and himself along for the ride. Despite the fact that sometimes that same kind of trouble would prove beneficial later on, it was still a bad idea to be distracted when in Mugen's presence.

And there he went again, thinking about _Mugen_ when he should be thinking about _Fuu._ Wait. _Wait._ That's wrong. He should be contemplating on this odd triad their group has become. And it usually starts with Fuu.

Fuu would do something inane, like crack her back or look at a flower for too long. Mugen would grow impatient, or throw a snide comment at her actions. Fuu would retaliate with an equally as snide comment that would follow a punch to Mugen's arm. That usually elicited more pain on Fuu's fist than on Mugen's end. Mugen would laugh. Fuu would scream. Fuu would then complain to Jin. Jin would reprimand Mugen. Mugen would stop doing whatever it was he was doing.

And after a few more minutes, this would happen all over again.

It was unnerving, how he could almost time it at will. Such as now, Fuu was about to trip on a pebble she didn't see. And she does.

"Ah!" Fuu squeaks as she hobbles over the pebble.

Mugen will then react.

"You're such a damn klutz. You couldn't even see a pebble?"

Fuu responds, usually harshly.

"Hey, I'll have you know that _that_ was a rock, not a pebble! I'm sure anyone would have tripped on that gigantic boulder!"

Mugen thinks otherwise.

"I sure as hell didn't trip on that 'gigantic boulder' you big dummy."

Fuu responds, again.

"That's because you saw it coming! You don't count!"

Mugen immediately comes back with a comment.

"Anyone else would've seen it coming too, you numb-nut, it's not my fault you're as blind as they come."

Fuu hits Mugen on the arm.

"Ooooow! Ah, my hand!" Fuu complains, rubbing her sore knuckles.

"Ha! That's what you get for hitting me _again._ Don't you ever learn? You can't hurt me, I'm too damn tough." Mugen brags, flexing his forearm as if to make a point. Fuu glares at him in frustration.

"Oh yeah? I bet Jin could beat you! And the only reason he hasn't before is because the law keeps intervening between your matches." Oh, wonderful, Jin muses, now Mugen's pride will come into play. And this is where things usually get messy.

"What? Fish-face? I'll have you know that the law showing up is the only reason his ass isn't six feet under. I could beat him with one arm tied behind my back and he _knows_ it, which is why he's too pussy to start a rematch." Mugen huffs, and Fuu pouts, because Jin isn't doing anything to suggest otherwise.

"You're wrong." Jin says.

"Am I?" Mugen shoots back.

"You are."

"If I'm wrong, then maybe we should just settle this right here, right now." Mugen suddenly says, and Jin is tense when he knows, he just _knows_, that Mugen's hand is all ready tightening around the hilt of his own katana.

"Guys, stop!" Fuu intervenes, and just like that, as if they were trained dogs abiding to their master, their muscles unclench and any more adrenaline going through their veins isn't as stimulating. Jin wonders when this happened. When all it took were two simple words form a small girl to get them to stop two powerful swordsmen in their tracks.

They had stopped walking earlier to have their brief confrontation, but they start walking again when Jin is the one who looks away first. Mugen makes a big huffing sound, as if he's puffing out his chest in protest, but Jin knows just as well that Mugen can't do anything. The spiky-haired swordsman is just as powerless as he is when it comes to Fuu.

Realizing that her two traveling companions weren't about to start a fight to the death, Fuu smiles.

-x-

(Fuu)

They're going to be the death of her.

And she's pretty content with that.


End file.
